After a ministry that lasted about three years, Jesus made the journey to Jerusalem that resulted in His arrest, trial, and crucifixion. Having passed through Jericho, where He visited in the house of Zacchaeus, He proceeded up into the mountains of Judea to Mt. Olivet, which rises on the east above Jerusalem. From there He made a triumphal entry into the city, while a great multitude followed along, crying out, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord; peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" (v.38). Going directly to the temple, Jesus expelled those within who were engaged in commerce, declaring that "it is written, 'My house shall be a house of prayer,' but you have made it a robbers' den," (v.46). For the next several days Jesus boldly and publicly taught the great crowds which assembled in the temple courts.
There were, however, those who looked on Jesus and His work with total contempt. They were His inveterate enemies -- Pharisees, chief priests, scribes, and "leading men among the people." (The latter were the top echelons of Jewish society that did not hold public office.) Almost from the start they had opposed Jesus at every turn and lately had been secretly plotting His death. Scornful of the multitudes which had joyfully accompanied on His triumphal entry, these bitter antagonists ordered Jesus to "rebuke Your disciples," (v.39). Jesus, of course, refused. During the following week as He taught in the temple, these enemies frequently engaged Him in carefully planned debate in an effort to trip Him up and disgrace Him. To their frustration and dismay, their best laid plans came to naught as Jesus' perception and power of reason proved too much for them.
As the rulers chafed and fretted while Jesus taught, fervently wishing they could silence Him, the common people "were hanging upon His words." Throughout Jesus' ministry it had been this way. The common people went to hear Him, were filled with joy and hope by His lessons, and returned again and again to hear His teach more. But those at the top of society with vested interests felt threatened by Jesus' doctrine and power, and sought ways to stop Him and His movement. This pattern did not cease with Jesus' death and ascension to heaven, for the movement He launched did not stop at the end of His earthly ministry. Under divine guidance the apostles promoted the movement (now in the form of the church) with ever increasing success. And those with power, wealth, and prestige continued to oppose it. The same pattern continues to this very day.
In the final analysis, there are but two sources of wisdom for the human mind to acquire and assimilate into a way of life, that of human experience and that of divine revelation. Human wisdom is limited by empirical experience, which itself is limited by space and time. No one has ventured beyond death and returned to tell us what exists there. No one has journeyed beyond the universe and come back to reveal what lies beyond the furthest edge of this vast capsule of space. Jesus declared, however, that He was fully knowledgeable of all that lies beyond our space-time limits, since He descended into our domain from the realm of existence without. The whole issue resolves itself into the matter of faith. Will one put his faith in Jesus' teaching about things beyond the limits of human perception, or will He reject Him as a fraud and rest the case upon what human reason and discovery can teach him? Jesus' enemies in Israel chose the latter course. The common people, however, chose the former and "were hanging on Jesus' words." Whether one's choice is right or wrong is revealed in the first moment beyond death, but that is one moment too late if Jesus' words, which were rejected, are true.
